CHAPTER 18: Silence Please!
It's been a week since our English teacher gave the final details for our book reading assignment and presentation – a week since I was forced to work with Rodrick on an actual school-related task. So far, we have made about 2% progress.
I stared at the Les Miserables book that lied on top of our lunch table beside my other books. I tried looking for my copy at home but I couldn't find it – I probably lost it before we moved or lent it to a friend or something – so I just I borrowed one from the library.
I sighed and got up after finishing the last bits of my lunch. I slung my bag over my shoulder and gathered my things from the table.
"You're leaving again?" Mae asked.
"Yeah." I nodded. "Library."
"Oh come on, April." Claire whined. "That project is not due 'til three months! You can read here anyway."
"Nah, it's fine. Silence helps me focus," I replied.
"Fine. Suit yourself. See you later then!" Claire said and then leaned on Ethan's shoulder.
I gave a small laugh. "Yeah. Bye guys!" I shuffled away after hearing a couple of bye's and see you later's from the group.
Unlike last Monday, I wasn't in a devastated mood today. Maybe it was because my ankle didn't hurt anymore, which was why I could already walk like a normal human being. I still had to be careful though because the doctor said that a wrong move could cause complications.
For the past week, I've been spending half of my lunch break at the library. It was the only quiet place in school where I could read the book assigned to us. The thing is, Rodrick and I were supposed to meet up in this silent sanctuary last Tuesday so we could plan our next course of action. He didn't show up. I waited every single school day after that, and the same thing happened. But I wouldn't call the time I spent in the library a waste because I had the chance to focus and read and take necessary notes.
When I found myself a good spot – a fairly huge table with 6 empty seats – I placed my bag on the chair beside mine, and my laptop, 2 books, and a notebook on the table. I decided to bring my laptop today just in case I needed to google something related to Les Miserables.
I began reading from where I left off–page 244. This book had a very small font size and was ridiculously thick with more than 1000 pages! I wondered if we could finish this, and the presentation, in less than three months.
I haven't made it to three pages when someone removed my bag from the chair beside mine and placed it on top of the table beside my laptop and my History book.
"Oh wow. I'm glad you made it," I said quietly, with a bit of sarcasm, and then looked at the invisible watch on my left wrist, "after 6 days and 10 minutes!"
"I got very busy," Rodrick said. I didn't say anything but stared at him with my left eyebrow raised. He turned to me and whispered excitedly, "You see, my band is joining the Plainview Talent Show! This could be our big break, you know? It's going to be in a month so we had to meet up and plan and prepare and practice and–"
"You could have at least taken a few minutes of your lunch break to go here so we could plan for our project. We agreed to meet up, remember?" I looked away from him. "Or you should have told me during class. We had all classes our together. Just saying, in case you forgot," I said, calmer than I thought I would. Surprisingly, wasn't angry at him. I knew he was passionate (more like obsessed, actually) with his band's so-called 'music'. But I just thought he should know what I was thinking since he's my project partner.
He stared at me, probably surprised too that I was not shouting or walking out on him. "Oooh… Prescott's not in a cranky mood today, huh?" he said, giving a small laugh.
I faced him, frowning. "Better not ruin the mood then."
He shrugged. "Well, I'm here now. So let's talk."
I put the book down and cleared my throat. "Okay, first off. Have you started reading the book?" I whispered but made sure that Rodrick could still hear my voice.
"Psshh! Yeah. Of course!" he answered, a little bit too loud that the librarian had to "Ssshh!" him.
I raised my eyebrows and leaned closer. "Where is it then? Why didn't you bring it?"
"I-I read it at home."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Stop lying."
"I'm not lying!"
"Keep quiet!" The librarian appeared between us and glared at Rodrick, who raised both of his hands up in an 'I surrender' position. She left after that.
I looked at Rodrick. He had lied a lot of times, so it wasn't hard to determine whether he was telling the truth or not.
He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I haven't started yet." He grabbed the Les Miserables book on the table and examined it. "This is a funny title. Less Mee-se-rab-less."
"It's not pronounced like that, you idiot. Anyway, I told you to start reading, right? So maybe you should borrow–"
"Less Mi-ze-ra-buls? As in miserable? Like, unhappy people?" Rodrick asked. "Is this book about less unhappy people?"
I sighed. "Lay Miz-er-ahb." I said the pronunciation slowly so he could get it. "It's French for 'The Miserable Ones'."
"Ohh… Lay Miz-er-ahb," he repeated.
"Now, as I was saying. You should borrow a book here, in case you don't have one at home. I think the library has, like, two or three more copies–"
"This book is so damn long." He complained while flipping through the pages. "This is so unfair. Others have shorter books. Can't we read a summarized book instead?" He eyed my laptop and smiled like he had a bright idea. "Or an online summary!" He grabbed it and turned it on.
"Rodrick, no. Mr. Martins said we have to read a book. Not an online plot summary that lacks details. What if he asks us a question and we can't answer it because it's not in the summary?" I said, trying to reason with him.
"Hey look at this." He turned the laptop to show me the screen. "Sparknotes. This is brilliant. Everything's here. We can just copy-paste everything and, boom! We have a presentation." He grinned at me, waiting for my response to his 'bright idea'.
"That's plagiarism, Rodrick. We can't do that."
"What's pla–"
"It's a crime. It could get us imprisoned," I said.
"Okay. Nevermind." He turned the laptop again so that the screen was facing him. "But it's hard to finish this entire thing in three months. Could you ask Martins if it's fine to read a summarized book version? It's still a book, you know. But shorter."
"Fine." I agreed. "Let's ask later. Could we start planning now? We're kinda running out of time. The bell's gonna ring soon."
He nodded, turned off my laptop, and returned it to its original spot before he 'speed-googled' a Les Miserables online summary. "Yes ma'am." He leaned closer so we could hear each other.
"Good. You should start reading the book soon, since we're going to find out later whether it's okay to read a summarized book version. Next thing to worry about: Our working schedule." I flipped my notebook to a blank page at the back. "When and where are we going to meet to work on our presentation? We can't keep working here because we obviously can't stay here long enough." We both glanced at the librarian who seemed to be watching our every move.
"It's either your house or my house," Rodrick replied.
"We could do it alternately. Maybe my house, then yours, then–"
"Fine. But when? I have band practice on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays."
"Hmm…" I tapped my pen on my chin and stared at the blank page of my notebook. "On Wednesdays, we go home at three. So maybe that would be a good day? I mean, we live like two houses across the street from each other." I looked at him, and he stared at the notebook.
"Right." He nodded, and waited for me to continue.
"Then Fridays and Saturdays would be good too," I said.
"No way." He shook his head. "Nope. Nope. I told you I have band practice!"
"Ssshh!" The librarian popped out from one of the shelves and glared at both of us, and then walked away.
I heard Rodrick groan as he leaned back. He was annoyed at the librarian for constantly making him shut up, and at me for trying to mess up his 'tight' schedule. "What time is your band practice anyway?" I asked.
"Around 6," he answered, brows furrowed.
"That's no problem, then. On Fridays we work for at least an hour or two, then you'll be at your band practice before you even know it." He nodded, but still wasn't convinced that it was a good idea. I continued, "Then on Saturdays, we could work from lunch time and finish before your practice starts?"
He thought of it for a while and then finally agreed. "Okay, okay. But this Wednesday, we work at your house."
"Fine, whatever." I didn't argue anymore so we could just get this over with.
"It's settled." He heaved and then looked at me. "Give me your cell phone number."
"What? No!" I shook my head. "No way."
"How are we going to contact each other then?" He leaned closer, this time his shoulder almost touching mine. A mischievous smile was spreading across his face.
I thought about that for a moment. But then I didn't want to give Rodrick my number because he might text me unnecessary stuff. "We have all classes together, remember? We can talk right before or after each period," I said as an excuse.
The bell rang and the students in the library started rushing outside.
Rodrick rolled his eyes while I collected my things. "Fine," he snorted.
We both got up and left the library. I carried a lot of things while he had only one backpack slung over his right shoulder. I thought he would leave me alone like he always did; but he just kept walking beside me.
"By the way," I started while we trudged down the hall. "I'll be at the library a lot of times during the second half of lunch–"
"Nerd," he said, placing an arm on my right shoulder while walking.
I ignored him since shaking his arm off wouldn't work anyway. "I'll be reading and taking notes. So if you want to contribute more, you know where to find me."
"Yeah, whatever." He smirked.
We arrived at the room and stood on the doorway. I noticed that only a few students have gotten inside; Claire and Rodrick's bandmate weren't there yet.
Rodrick finally removed his heavy arm from my shoulder. He then ruffled my hair, and went to his seat at the back of the room.
I glared at him while heading to my seat. I still felt the weight on my shoulder so I rubbed it with my hand when I sat down. I hand-combed my hair a little before opening my notebook to the blank page I was staring at when we were at the library. Then I started taking down what we've talked about earlier:
English Project
Wednesdays: 3pm
Fridays: 4pm
Saturdays: lunch time
*end before 6pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Week 1
Wednesday – my house
Friday – Rodrick's house
Saturday – my house
Claire grinned as she sat down beside me. I put my pen down while Mr. Martins entered the room and began doing his usual classroom routine.
. . . . . . . . . .
"Sir!" Rodrick called after Mr. Martins had dismissed us. Claire and I were gathering our things and a bunch of students were already leaving the room.
"Oh. Mr Heffley." He seemed surprised that a student like Rodrick would talk to him after class. "What is it?" he asked.
Rodrick walked closer to our English teacher. "That book you're making us read for the project is so freaking long."
"Les Miserables?" Well, it really is long, but it has a very beautiful indeed."
I entered the conversation, walking closer to them with Claire behind me. "Sir, we were just wondering if we're allowed to read a shorter version."
"I told you that I don't want my students to read a summary, especially those posted online," he replied firmly.
"How about a shorter book version?" I said, emphasizing the word 'book'.
"It would be better if you read the–"
"It's still a book," Rodrick interrupted.
"What?" Mr. Martins looked at him, confused.
"You told us to read a book. And the one we found is super long. There must be some kind of shorter version out there which we could finish in less than three months!" he explained while throwing his hands everywhere. "The books of the other pairs are way shorter than ours."
Mr. Martins looked stunned. "Well…" He cleared his throat. "There is this abridged version of Les Mis…"
Rodrick turned to me with a questioning look and mouthed, "Abridged?"
"Yes, sir." I said. He was finally agreeing with us. "Could we read that one instead?"
"Okay, sure. But make sure you have a well-prepared presentation," he said.
"Thank you sir," I replied. Claire, Rodrick, and I all walked out of the room, and headed to French class.
"Nice one." Claire said from my left. "Les Mis really is long! That's a good bargain you made back there."
"Abridged? What the hell?" Rodrick said from my right.
"The abridged version is a shorter version of the book," I explained. "But the important details are still there. So that's good enough. We just have to find a copy in the library or in the book store."
"Oh. Okay," Rodrick mumbled.
We got to the room and Claire went straight to her seat. I stopped at the doorway and said to Rodrick, "I gotta thank you for that." At least he did something to convince Mr. Martins.
"I know right? I am so awesome," he said proudly.
I rolled my eyes. "You're still an idiot," I said and walked towards my seat beside Claire.
A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Don't forget to favorite, follow, and leave a review. Thanks everyone! =)